April A. Arvan, Ph.D., has announced that she will step down as Lakeland University's director of athletics, ending a 10-year run as head of Lakeland's athletics department.

A longtime Lakeland staple as a student-athlete, coach, administrator and professor, Arvan will continue to serve as professor of sport management and leadership and senior woman administrator, as well as the school's interim director of the graduate business program.

A national search will begin soon for a full-time director of athletics.

Arvan has headed the Muskies athletic department since 2015 and also led the department for earlier stints in interim roles in 2004, 2013 and 2014-15. She is a member of the Lakeland University Athletics Hall of Fame and has been a mainstay with Muskies Athletics since 1989, when she came to the school as a student and played two years with the women's basketball program.

Arvan will relinquish one of her roles at Lakeland after leading the athletic department through a period that included trips to NCAA postseason national competition in football, women's basketball and women's golf. She also presided over the growth of Lakeland's sport offerings to 21 sports, including the addition of women's wrestling and men's and women's bowling, and led a substantial growth in the number of athletes participating in athletics at the school. Arvan also oversaw the complete renovation of Taylor Memorial Field, Lakeland's home football facility, with a new turf field installed, new grandstand with press box, plus stadium lighting allowing for play at night, and Taylor Field is now also home ot the Muskies men's and women's soccer teams.

"Lakeland is grateful for the time Dr. Arvan dedicated to leading our athletic department the past 11 years," said Lakeland President Beth Borgen. "Her passion for our student athletes and our mission is evident in all of her work. She has left a permanent, positive mark that has Lakeland Athletics well positioned for the future."

Prior to serving as director of athletics, Arvan had roles as an assistant and later associate athletic director. She also served as Lakeland's head women's basketball coach from 1994-2007, retiring from the game as one of the most successful coaches in the college's history. She led the Muskies to five trips to the NCAA Tournament and eight conference championships, and still ranks in the top 20 all-time on the list of winningest coaches by percentage in NCAA Division III women's basketball history.

"First and foremost, I would like to thank the Board of Trustees and Presidents Eck, Black and Borgen for the opportunity to lead the athletics department," said Arvan. "Eleven years ago, I was asked to steady the ship, and I think we accomplished much more than that.

"I am proud of what the athletics administrative team, the coaches, and the student athletes have worked so very hard throughout the years to achieve and for all that has been accomplished. Yet, the truth remains that there is a lot of untapped potential and big picture needs in the athletics department that requires full-time administrative oversight. The competitor in me recognizes that.

"I am a teacher at heart, and since day one Lakeland has afforded me the opportunity to be in the classroom regardless of whatever role I have been in. That is where I belong. I am very thankful to remain in the athletics department in an administrative capacity.

"I will always bleed Blue and Gold, and I am not going very far. Go Muskies!"